At one point, football was pretty boring to Dejuan Lane.
As a starting freshman cornerback for the Gilman School football team, opposing quarterbacks were already doing their best to stay as far away from him as possible. They wouldn’t throw to the receiver he was covering, and as such, the ball would rarely come Lane’s way when he was on defense. He bristled that he couldn’t impact the game the way he wanted to, and presumed that his future was in basketball.
But then, in the middle of a game, the Greyhounds moved Lane over to safety and his entire perspective changed, along with the direction of his football career and his life.
“Just being able to use my athleticism to hawk the ball and make big plays,” Lane said of the position change, which he essentially described as a freeing experience.
At that moment, he said, “I fell in love with the sport and wanted to take it all the way.”
Now a 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior at Gilman, Lane is one of the most dynamic high school football players in the state. The consensus four-star recruit committed to play safety next year at Penn State.
Older brother Rayuan Lane III also starred at Gilman. He is now a junior starting safety at the Naval Academy and making a regular impact. Entering play on Oct. 21, Lane has made 139 tackles, forced four fumbles and intercepted four passes in two-plus seasons with the Mids.
The brothers share a very close, competitive relationship, speaking just about every day, even if it’s just a short phone call or a silly text message to make the other laugh. They are often at each other’s games — Rayuan gets back to Gilman as often as he can — in a show of support.
“One thing I have taken from him is taking advantage of opportunities,” Dejuan said of his older brother. “Going to Navy, he was like fifth on the depth chart [at safety]. By the sixth or seventh game, he was starting. He went in there and made the best of his opportunity and hasn’t looked back yet.”
Dejuan Lane is trying to do the same at Gilman, as the Greyhounds look to establish a winning culture under second-year head coach Scott Van Zile. During his one season as the head coach at St. Paul’s, Van Zile coached against Gilman and Rayuan Lane, which the coach described as a “scary” experience.
“Particularly in the kicking game,” Van Zile said. “We failed to execute kicking away from him, and [Rayuan] made us pay for it.”
Dejuan Lane impacts the game for Gilman in much the same way on offense, defense and special teams.
“He’ll be out wide [as a receiver],” Van Zile said. “We’ll throw it up to him. We’ll hand it off to him. Last year, he played some wildcat QB for us. So, we are just trying to find different ways in each game to get him touches.”
The Greyhounds have limited Lane’s exposure on special teams simply because teams won’t kick it to him after he showed what he could do last season.
“The rare combination of his size and speed,” Van Zile said. “He is a sub-10.8 [second] 100-meter guy at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds. You just don’t see that combination too often.”
Though Rayuan might be a little bit faster, Dejuan has about three inches and 10 pounds on his older brother and thinks his ball skills might be a little bit better, too.
Those are things that Dejuan playfully tries not to let Rayuan forget, as he attempts to follow his example.
“As he continues to do more, it doesn’t really put pressure on me,” Dejuan said. “But it shows me, like, what I need to do. He’s created big shoes for me to fill, and I am excited to step up to the plate and prove I can fill those shoes.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Gilman School
Issue 283: October/November 2023
Originally published Oct. 18, 2023